Telangana: After State Emblem, KCR's Kaleswaram Project Is Set To Become The Next Flashpoint Between CM Revanth Reddy And BRS

Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy, along with his cabinet colleagues, recently inspected the condition of the Medigadda barrage, which is an important part of his predecessor K Chandrasekhar Rao's (KCR) much-touted Kaleswaram Lift Irrigation project.

Six piers of the barrage, inaugurated just four years ago, amidst much fanfare in 2019, had sunk in October 2023.

The project — considered to be a game-changer for Telangana as it would provide water for drinking and irrigation to 20 of the state's 31 districts, was envisaged to harness water at the confluence of two rivers with the Godavari river, and send it across a complex network of reservoirs and canals.

This is not the first time that the project has come under attack. During the Assembly polls, the Congress had criticised the Bharat Rashtra Samiti (BRS) government and said that they had squandered Rs 1 lakh crore. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) too had alleged corruption in the project. Both parties said that then chief minister KCR was using Kaleswaram as an 'ATM.'

Defending the BRS, former Irrigation minister, T Harish Rao said that the Congress was only highlighting the damage at Medigadda and forgetting that the project is much larger than one barrage.

Further, he stated that it was due to the Kaleswaram project that paddy production in the state had gone up to three crore tonnes a year.

Dragging the BJP into the matter, the Congress alleged that the party's MLAs did not join the visit as they had a tacit understanding with the BRS.

BJP state president G Kishan Reddy, however refuted the charges asking if it was so keen on the issue, why was the Congress not consenting to a probe by the Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) or allowing a second visit of the National Dam Safety Authority (NDSA).

The NDSA report had stated there were faults in the planning, design, maintenance and operations of the barrage and that it would have to be reconstructed.

According to Kishan Reddy, the preliminary report of the state government's Vigilance and Enforcement Department is similar to that of the NDSA.

The Congress government had also requested the Telangana High Court, to allot a sitting judge to oversee a probe into the issue but the Court stated that it could only allot a retired judge.

While the project has its share of deficiences and a thorough probe is important, the visit to Medigadda can be seen as one more move by Revanth Reddy to take on KCR and the previous BRS government on their pet projects and take steps to carve a legacy of his own.

Just days back, he decided to change the state's emblem which contains the Kakatiya thoranam and the Charminar, that was selected by KCR and modify the abbreviation used for the state from 'TS' to 'TG'. Earlier, he put on hold the BRS government's plan to have the airport metro in Hyderabad run along the Outer Ring Road.

Also Read: Caste Calculations, Legacy Building, Or Both? Why Revanth Reddy Is Attacking Kakatiya Thoranam